Snowball viburnum
My old-fashioned snowball bush is gorgeous right now. The huge flower clusters, which start out as green, have now turned almost pure white, and the entire bush is heavy and drooping with them. There must be hundreds and hundreds of blooms, and each individual cluster gets larger and whiter as they mature. I have had this shrub for many years and it is huge, more than 15 feet tall and still growing. I don’t ever do anything to it other than pruning it a bit right after it finishes blooming. I also keep the trunks clear of branches from the ground up to a little more than 5 feet, and pruning it this way keeps it like a standard or small tree with a large canopy instead of a shrub. I can easily stand underneath it.
–
Snowball Viburnum blooms
–
In late evening and even at night, the white flowers are phosphorescent and practically glow in the dark. The photo at left was taken at twilight (click to enlarge). Snowballs would be great for a moon garden. This shrub blooms for many weeks in the spring and when the petals start falling, they look like snow on the grass underneath it. I always look forward to seeing this large shrub bloom every year. The one drawback to this shrub that I have found is that when it is at peak bloom and the flower clusters are at their largest, heavy rains can be damaging to the flowers and can cause the branches to become so heavy that they droop almost to the ground.
–
Click on any photo to view a larger version.
–
This shrub is at the edge of my yard and is visible from the road — I’ve had many people stop and ask about it or want to take photos of it when it’s in full bloom.
I have successfully propagated this deciduous shrub for others by rooting semi-hardwood and hardwood cuttings from it in the early summer. I simply take several cuttings of about 12 inches long, remove most of the leaves, and place them about 5 inches deep in a rich, sandy potting mix I have in a deep old tub at the edge of the woods. The tub gets dappled sunlight, and I do keep it watered through the summer months. By the following spring and summer, usually more than half of the cuttings are well-rooted and ready to transplant. I’ve had good luck propagating many flowers, shrubs, and even trees this way.
















May 5, 2008 at 9:25 am
That’s seems to be a very beautiful flower.
How does it smell?
May 5, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Hi Quintarantino, It has a very light scent when it first starts blooming that reminds me kinda of carnations, but now that the blooms have turned white, I can’t smell anything. It is a beautiful flower though, I just love it.
-Sherry
May 6, 2008 at 9:09 am
I think it looks stunning, the blooms are awesome.
May 6, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Hi Tom, I’ve always loved this shrub, especially when the blooms turn white. Thank you for stopping by.
May 7, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Seeing these beauties brings back memories to my grandmother’s yard. Love the twilight shot of yours–the main reason I like white flowers so much. You can’t miss them!
Thanks for sharing.
May 7, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Thanks, nonizamboni! I too love the way white flowers seem to glow.
May 12, 2008 at 3:48 am
[...] in bloom Now that the snowball bush is finishing up it’s bloom (and dropping petals that look like snow on the lawn), the [...]
May 30, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Hi! What’s in a “sandy potting mix” ? Is it ok to put the pot with the cutting in temps. around 50 degrees?
May 31, 2008 at 12:07 am
Hi Estela,
I mixed equal parts potting soil, sand, and peat moss together in a big tub — and that’s what I root cuttings in. My tub is sitting at the edge of the woods with dappled shade most of the day and I’ve had good luck with snowball cuttings. I water it only during prolonged dry spells. As for temp, 50 degrees is probably ok. (I’m in the south, so it’s very hot here.)
Good luck with your cuttings.
-Sherry